Your New Town Hall March 2015 Consultation Statement Muse & London Borough of Lambeth Council Your New Town Hall Brixton 30 March 2015 Prepared by GL Hearn Limited 280 High Holborn London WC1V 7EE T +44 (0)20 7851 4900 glhearn.com Contents Chapter Page 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 2 INTRODUCTION 5 3 OVERARCHING METHODOLOGY AND PROGRAMME 7 4 STAGE 1: COMMUNITY DESIGN STAGE 9 5 STAGE 2: PRE-APPLICATION CONSULTATION 22 6 PRE-APPLICATION CONSULTATION FEEDBACK 26 7 TEAM RESPONSES TO PRE-APPLICATION CONSULTATION KEY THEMES 41 8 CONCLUSION 48 Appendices APPENDIX A: WEBSITE HOLDING PAGE APPENDIX B: FULL PROJECT WEBSITE APPENDIX C: COMMUNITY DESIGN STAGE: IMMEDIATE NEIGHBOUR WORKSHOP MAIL SCOPES APPENDIX D: COMMUNITY DESIGN STAGE: IMMEDIATE NEIGHBOUR WORKSHOP MINUTES APPENDIX E: COMMUNITY DESIGN STAGE: STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOP MINUTES APPENDIX F: COMMUNITY DESIGN STAGE: EVENT PHOTOS APPENDIX G: COMMUNITY DESIGN STAGE: FLYER INVITE APPENDIX H: COMMUNITY DESIGN STAGE: LAMBETH TALK ADVERT APPENDIX I: STAKEHOLDER GROUPS CONTACTED DIRECTLY APPENDIX J: PUBLIC EXHIBITION PROMOTION: BRIXTON BUGLE ADVERT APPENDIX K: PUBLIC EXHIBITION PROMOTION: LAMBETH TALK FEATURETTE APPENDIX L: PUBLIC EXHIBITION PROMOTION: FUTURE BRIXTON ENEWSLETTER APPENDIX M: PUBLIC EXHIBITION PROMOTION: POSTER APPENDIX N: PUBLIC EXHIBITION PROMOTION: THE WEEKENDER ADVERTORIAL APPENDIX O: PUBLIC EXHIBITION PROMOTION: LOVE LAMBETH ENEWSLETTER APPENDIX P: PUBLIC EXHIBITION PROMOTION: A5 FLYER APPENDIX Q: PUBLIC EXHIBITION PROMOTION: A5 FLYER DISTRIBUTION SCOPE APPENDIX R: PUBLIC EXHIBITION: PHOTOS APPENDIX S: PUBLIC EXHIBITION: FEEDBACK FORM APPENDIX T: PRE-APPLICATION CONSULTATION: IMMEDIATE NEIGHBOUR WORKSHOP MINUTES GL Hearn Page 2 of 103 Quality Standards Control The signatories below verify that this document has been prepared in accordance with our quality control requirements. These procedures do not affect the content and views expressed by the originator. This document must only be treated as a draft unless it is has been signed by the Originator and approved by a Business or Associate Director. DATE ORIGINATOR APPROVED 30 March 2015 Tom Byrne Jo Sistern Account Manager Director Limitations This document has been prepared for the stated objective and should not be used for any other purpose without the prior written authority of GL Hearn; we accept no responsibility or liability for the consequences of this document being used for a purpose other than for which it was commissioned. GL Hearn Page 3 of 103 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1.1 This report outlines the public consultation programme undertaken by GL Hearn on behalf of Lambeth Council (LBL) and Muse between July 2014 and March 2015. 1.2 The Your New Town Hall project is part of the Council’s plans to regenerate a core 2.5 acre site around the Town Hall in Brixton between Acre Lane and Brixton Hill. Buildings included within this core site are Lambeth Town Hall, Hambrook House, Ivor House, Olive Morris House and Town Hall Parade. 1.3 By reducing Lambeth Council’s core office sites from 14 to 2 it is estimated the Your New Town Hall project will save at least £4.5m a year of local taxpayers money. The project will also deliver much needed new facilities and homes. 1.4 Consultation was undertaken across two distinct stages 1) Community Design Stage 2) Pre- Application Consultation Stage. This report outlines the activities carried out during both stages of the consultation programme, the level of feedback received and how the project team has sought to react to the comments made by the local community. 1.5 Feedback was received through a variety of means including notes taken at events/meetings and from phone calls; from letters and e-mails and through the use of feedback forms which could be posted, e-mailed or submitted via the website. In total we received 107 responses through feedback forms; 39 immediate neighbours attended our Community Design workshops; 22 immediate neighbours attended our pre-application consultation workshops; 130 people attended our pre- application consultation public exhibition, and the project team had direct contact with 22 local stakeholder groups. 1.6 The feedback received has helped to inform the development of the scheme and the final proposals that have been submitted as part of this planning application. These changes include the reduction in height of the proposal for Hambrook House from 20 storeys to 14 and the reconfiguration of the building to be more mindful of existing residents and protect their community garden. 1.7 Following submission, GL Hearn will inform local residents, stakeholders and councillors of the application’s progress and the amended scheme as part of the commitment to ongoing community engagement. GL Hearn Page 4 of 103 2 INTRODUCTION 2.1 The Your New Town Hall project is part of a long term commitment by Lambeth Council to the regeneration of this key site at the centre of Brixton. In March 2012 the Cabinet at LBL agreed to deliver the Office Accommodation Strategy to reduce core offices and deliver a campus solution around Brixton Town Hall. A decision was made to authorise the pre-procurement work required to commence an EU public procurement and select a development partner for the delivery of the Office Accommodation Strategy. 2.2 In order to deliver the ambitions set out in the Brixton SPD planning policy Lambeth Council established the Future Brixton programme as an umbrella group to ensure local people are informed about the future ambitions for the regeneration around Brixton. It was agreed from the outset that key aspects to the Your New Town Hall project would be communicated through the Future Brixton umbrella. 2.3 A series of coproduction community events were coordinated by Future Brixton from December 2012 to October 2013 where representatives from the local community and business groups were able to define the ideas and ambitions for the Your New Town Hall project to form a community brief which was issued to three developers in January 2013. In July 2013 a small closed (due to commercial confidentiality) project coproduction event was held to review the submission of trial tenders for an invited group of community members around 120 were invited but fewer than 20 turned up. The attendees were encouraged to complete feedback forms both on the developers’ proposals and engagement. Feedback received from this event covered 4 areas with the proposals submitted by Muse being awarded the highest score at 72%. 2.4 In October 2013, Lambeth Council unveiled the three proposals from developers to the public at an event in the Ritzy Cinema which was attended by 30 people and invited comments from the local community on the options. Following a competition, the Cabinet at LBC, in November 2013, approved the selection of Muse as preferred developer and agreed to enter into a conditional development agreement and progress the proposals. In April 2014, Lambeth Council signed an agreement with Muse to deliver the Your New Town Hall project with a focus of reducing the core office buildings from 14 to 2, saving at least £4.5m a year. 2.5 Muse Developments Ltd is one of the country’s leading names in mixed-use development and urban regeneration with regional operations in London, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow. Muse is part of Morgan Sindall Group plc, a leading UK construction and regeneration group. 2.6 Briefly the proposals for the Your New Town project will: GL Hearn Page 5 of 103 Preserve Lambeth’s iconic Town Hall, making it more open and accessible to residents Provide quality office space for local enterprise and start-ups Build an energy efficient civic building with customer centre and council offices Create new landscaped public areas Build much-needed new homes, including 40% ‘affordable’ homes 2.7 The proposals will be delivered across a number of Council-owned sites including the Town Hall which will be retained for democratic services, community, and start-up business space; the Town Hall Parade which will be redeveloped for the new council office building; Ivor House which will be refurbished for new homes; Hambrook House and Oliver Morris House which will both be redeveloped for new homes. GL Hearn Page 6 of 103 3 OVERARCHING METHODOLOGY AND PROGRAMME 3.1 The approach to the communication and public consultation on the YNTH project was outlined and agreed with LBL at the outset. The key objectives and principles followed throughout the community involvement and public consultation programme included: To consult those parties who will potentially be affected by the proposals To deliver meaningful engagement with opportunities to shape the development of designs for the public/civic/community elements of the plans To deliver best-practice pre-planning consultation To outline the timescales for consultation and how people can get involved To provide the opportunity for feedback on the proposals to be submitted and reviewed by members of the project team To report back on the feedback that has been received and how this was responded to To clearly outline timescales for the application 3.2 In order to implement the key principles above, a programme based around two stages of activity was agreed as follows: Community Design: Creative and inclusive, in depth involvement of the community to come up with its own ideas for how community spaces should be designed and used. Pre-Application consultation: Presentation of specific proposals for residential and office space for public feedback as part of the planning process; to support the evolution